Let's see....in these past four months: my father-in-law died from Covid; my mother-in-law was hospitalized with Covid then moved right into an assisted living facility; and my mom had Covid and came within a hair of being hospitalized for it. She dodged that, but recently took a round-trip ambulance ride to the ER because, as it turned out, she had a touch of pneumonia. Both my mom and mother-in-law have received their first dose of the vaccine.
So far, Mr. W and I have evaded the virus. He qualifies for the vaccine, but has not been able to schedule an appointment. I don't qualify until the last tier, which is "all other residents of the state," so I know it's going to be quite a while before I can stick out my arm for the shots. Mr. W is still working at home and that is for an indefinite amount of time. I go to the office every weekday, except today I am off due to Presidents' Day. We are predicted to get eight inches of snow by tonight, so that's what I'll be fighting to get to the office tomorrow.
Since their dads's death, Mr. W and his brother have been working through their parents' finances. Although FIL and MIL seemed to be doing fine in the later years, for the first ten years or so of our marriage, we were reminded/threatened numerous times by MIL that they were struggling. We really didn't know what their status was and it was an excellent surprise to find out that they are well-funded, beyond what MIL will ever need in her final years. Both our family and his brother's family will benefit from this.
It was already on the table for me to retire this year and now it more than doable, but as much as I despise the office, it makes no sense to retire to sit and do nothing but wait for my shots. Thus, I have negotiated a four-day work week schedule that will start next month. I will not work on Fridays, or at least that is the deal. At this point, the office needs me more than I need it. It would be a big boatload of no fun for my boss to start from scratch with someone new. (When it came open six years ago, my position had no internal applicants, as it was well-known how difficult she is to work for.)
So, in a nutshell, that's all that's new. Although they are bored with limited activities, Dan and Carlene are well. They have received both doses of the vaccine. Dan has to work tonight at 7:00 p.m. and I'm worried about his commute in this dreadful weather. As their house does not have a garage, he will have to start by removing six inches of snow from his car in the below-zero wind chill. There is no end to the worrying parent syndrome.
Franker is doing fine. It has been too cold for the last couple of weeks to walk him, so he was treated to a M-W-F schedule of doggie daycare instead of T-Th. I would have liked to have taken him today--and he would have been overjoyed to go--but picking him up in this blasted snowstorm would have been dangerous. He is snoozing on his couch, the only one he is allowed to occupy, in the lower level family room.
I am occupying my lower-level home "office," which consists of my old computer perched on our former kitchen table which also functions as a staging area for my deer-feeding habit. The herd walked through our common ground about an hour ago, and although I suited and booted up to slug out there with some calories, they had already moved on. They will return later; they are accustomed to feeding time being around 6:00 p.m., when I get home from the office.
Feeding the deer could be my strange addiction, but I don't perceive it to be as strange as my real one: jigsaw puzzles! There, it is out there, I wile away indoor hours working on puzzles. UHG. Since the first one I put together nearly a year ago, in the midst of the lockdown, I have become hopelessly hooked. It is so crazy and non-productive. I could be cleaning out closets or painting trim, but I sit scrutinizing an assortment of puzzle pieces, looking for the one with the dog's collar on it. What a geek. No wonder I don't write anymore.
